Bobbin-carrier.



H. z. COBB. BOBBIN CARRIER.

APPL IOATION FILED 0OT.18, 1911.

Patented May 5, 1914.

WITNESSES co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

ITED STATES PATENT ()FFQ HENRY ZENAS COBB, OF WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOBBIN-CARRIER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY ZENAS COBB, a citizen of the United States, residing in Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bobbin-Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bobbin-carriers of braiding machines or the like, and aims to provide certain improvements therein. In such machine the bobbin-carriers move in and out along a sinuous or undulatory track or guide-way, in order to intertwine or plait the threads or yarns carried thereby, these being unwound from the bobbins under the tension produced thereon as they are incorporated and carried off in the formed braid. As the bobbin-carriers move in and out along the sinuous guide-way, however, there are produced intermittent slackings of the yarn, which requires the use of some form of take-up. The usual form of take-up involves a weight suspended upon the yarn, so that it rises and falls with the tensioning and slackening of the yarn, and when the pull upon the yarn draws it to its maximum height it releases a let-ofl which allows the bobbin to unwind and pay out a further portion of yarn. Such devices are incapable of use in the bobbins of multiple braiders. having concentric raceways wherein the bobbins cross between the outer and inner races, because the limited play of the weight will not take up as much yarn as corresponds to such extreme inward and outward travel of the bobbins.

The present invent-ion provides an improved simplified and compacted device which provides not only for the taking up of the slack due to the extreme sinuous movements of the carrier, but also for the unwinding of the yarn from the bobbin under a sustained tension.

The invention will be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a bobbin carrier constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 illustrates the bobbin carrier with a bobbin thereon. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: illustrates a detail (with parts in horizontal section) of the device.

In said drawings a represents the body of Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed October 18, 1911.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Serial No. 655,353.

the carrier, provided with a runner b, for engaging the track or guideway of a braiding machine. As is well understood the body a is caused to travel around the track or guideway, thus following a sinuous path which alternately approaches and recedes from the center of the machine. 'The runner b is long and narrow, so that it is engaged by the slot or guideway of the track, and is thereby constrained to follow the direction of such slot, whereby with respect to the center of the machine the body a cannot rotate upon its axis but executes such oscillatory movement as is incidental to the sinuosities of the track. Projecting from body a is a staff 0. Upon stalf c is journaled a sleeve (Z, which carries the bobbin 6 having the yarn f wound thereon. The bobbin 6 is usually a round tube and is preferably the bobbin on which the yarn is originally wound. In order' to fasten the bobbin to the sleeve (2, the sleeve is preferably pro vided with a socket, into which fits a tapered sleeve h, which is driven into the bobbin so as to make a tight fit. The exterior of the sleeve I1, is squared, or otherwise shaped, so as to prevent turning thereof in the socket and also turning of the bobbin thereon. The staff 0 preferably extends through the bobbin and may be provided at its upper end with threads, upon which fits a threaded wing-nut 7' for retaining the bobbin in place on the carrier. A flanged sleeve may be interposed between the wing-nut and the bobbin for centering the upper end of the bobbin upon the upper end of the staff. There is also preferably provided on the body of the carrier a guide 7) in the form of a rod having an eye (I through it about opposite the middle of the bobbin when in place, and another eye 1" at its upper end, through which eyes the yarn f unwound from the bobbin passes.

The sleeve 8 is attached to one end of a coil-spring Z, the other end of the spring being attached to a friction-shoe or brake 'm, which slides frictionally against a part of the body of the carrier and is formed as an expansible ring, seated within a flange n of the carrier body a. The sleeve .9 carries a gear tmeshing in turn with gears '0 and w and a gear 00 fixed on sleeve kl. The gears may be provided with a housing y for inclosing them. lVhen the spring is relaxed, its tendency to unwind causes it to expand against the shoe, and expand the latter with in this flange. The consequence of this arrangement is that the shoe will maintain its engagement with the flange 11 until the pressure of the spring thereon is suiliciently relieved by the coiling of the spring on the sleeve 5 to overcome the friction between them. The recess formed by the flange 01, may have a cover 0 thereon to inclose the parts.

By the foregoing arrangement, the sleeve (Z carrying the bobbin may be rotated a number of turns without coiling the spring sufficiently to overcome the friction of the shoe 7% on the carrier flange. At the same time such rotation of the sleeve cl produces a tension upon the spring which has the tendency to return the sleeve to its original position. It will therefore be seen that the sleeve may be rotated up to a maximum where coiling of the spring will permit the friction shoe to slip, and that Within this maximum the sleeve (Z carrying the bobbin may rotate back and forth in accordance with the variations of the force tending to rotate it. Consequently, when the tension becomes so great on yarn f during the braid ing operation, as to overcome the frictional engagement of shoe m, the shoe will slip and permit unwinding of a requisite amount of yarn from the bobbin. When, however, the tension on the yarn is slackened, as by the sinuous movements of the bobbin-carrier, the slack in the yarn is immediately taken up by the back-rotation of the bobbin under the tension of spring Z. By this means a considerable tension may be maintained upon the yarn throughout the entire-braiding operation, and the amount of slack which may be taken up by the device is very considerable, much more in fact than can be accomplished by previous arrangements such as the weight take-up previously referred to.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of the invention, it is not to be understood as limited thereto, as many modifications may be made therein within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is 2- A bobbin carrier for a braiding machine comprising a body having provision for en gaging the sinuous track or guidevvay whereby it is restrained from axial rota tion, said body formed with a concentrically flanged plate forming a spring recess, a bobbin support rotatable relatively to said body, and a coiled spring frictionally engaging said fiange at its outer end, and gearing interposed between said spring and bobbin support for multiplying the rotation of said bobbin relatively to the inner end of said springs.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscrib- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

